


i could even learn how to love like you

by bothsexuals



Series: cul-de-sac crew 2.0 [3]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Found family!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:41:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25181149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bothsexuals/pseuds/bothsexuals
Summary: Five times Troy and Abed show Annie how much they love her, and one time she shows them.
Relationships: Annie Edison & Abed Nadir, Troy Barnes & Annie Edison, Troy Barnes & Annie Edison & Abed Nadir, Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Series: cul-de-sac crew 2.0 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823377
Comments: 10
Kudos: 103





	i could even learn how to love like you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sapphicpaint](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphicpaint/gifts).



> This is for the dpngc, and jujubee specifically, for coming up with many a trobedannie concepts with me. I love you guys, thanks for all the love and support and the trobed hcs. 
> 
> Title from Rebecca Sugar's "Love Like You".

**i.**

“Hi,” Annie greeted her roommates entering the apartment. 

Troy and Abed perked up, immediately picking up on the sadness in her voice.

“That’s a Ross Geller hi,” Abed said, standing up to meet her, “what’s going on?” 

“Nothing,” she said, then sighed, “I just got a bad grade on this project I worked really hard on.” 

“Oh, Annie Banannie,” Troy crooned, rushing to hug her, “I’m sorry.” 

“I’m sure you deserved an A,” Abed said. 

“Thanks, guys,” she mumbled, “I’ll get over it, I just need to be sad for a while.”

“That makes sense,” Abed nodded, “sit on my chair, we’ll think of everything else.”

She nodded, slightly confused, but complied nonetheless. 

Abed ran to her bedroom to grab what he knew was her favorite blanket while Troy rushed to the kitchen to make her favorite tea and grab some cookies. Abed quickly came back and tucked her into the blanket and she sighed happily, nuzzling into it.

“Rom-com or sit-com?” Abed asked. 

“Rom-com,” Annie mumbled.

Abed nodded and put _The Proposal_ in the DVD player, just as Troy arrived with the tea and cookies for Annie. 

“You guys are the best roommates ever, you know that?” she said, taking them from him. 

“We know,” Troy bragged, “but we were taught by the best.”

“He means you,” Abed needlessly specified, “you’re the best.” 

“Come give me a kiss and then watch this movie with me,” Annie ordered, and they happily complied, both giving her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down- Troy in his chair and Abed on its armrest.

“It’s not a movie, Annie,” Troy corrected her, “it’s a _masterpiece_.” 

“True that,” Abed agreed, and turned for a handshake. 

Annie laughed, and started to feel a little better. Maybe grades weren’t the most important thing in her life anymore. 

  


**ii.**

“Isn’t it weird?” Britta asked one day when she was over at their apartment. 

“What?” Annie asked. Britta had a habit of jumping into conversations assuming everyone was on the same wavelength as her, but they usually weren’t and she needed to backtrack a bit.

“Living with Troy and Abed now that they’re dating,” she clarified. 

“No,” Annie replied, “of course not. Why would it be weird?” 

Britta shrugged and changed the subject pretty quickly, but now the question was in Annie’s mind, and she knew it wouldn’t leave her alone all day. 

She resolved to talk to them that night, because it was the best idea- especially since she was the one constantly preaching about healthy communication. 

“Guys,” she asked over dinner, hating how little her voice sounded, “is it weird that I live here?” 

“What do you mean?” Troy asked, furrowing his brows. 

“I mean, you guys asked me to move in before you started dating,” she explained, “and now I’m like a constant third wheel. It must get annoying.” 

“You take that back,” Troy exclaimed, “no one calls my best friend annoying, not even herself.” 

“Annie, we want you here,” Abed said a lot more calmly, “you’re our favorite person other than each other, and you always let us have the house for date nights when we ask you. You’re the best third wheel ever.” 

“Plus, it wouldn’t be the same without you,” Troy added. 

“We had some doubts before you moved in,” Abed recounted, gesturing with his chopsticks, “about whether it would mess things up to add a third into such a well-established duo. But then we realized you’re exactly what we needed.” He smiled thoughtfully. “I think we make each other better. Like how you’re starting to let loose and take part in our goofs and hijinks, and you’re also helping us be a little more responsible.” 

“Exactly,” Troy nodded, “we’d been missing something, and it was you. Turns out we’re not two halves, we’re two thirds and you’re the last remaining piece.”

Abed pointed to him and nodded, then concluded, “So it’s not weird you live here. It’s the best thing ever.” 

Annie pouted adorably and bounced excitedly on her chair. “You guys!” she exclaimed, “That is too freaking cute!” 

“Hug?” Abed asked, pointing a finger at her. 

“Please!” she replied, and Troy and Abed swiftly stood up and engulfed her in a hug for minutes on end, careless of their dinners growing cold. 

She shouldn’t have let Britta get in her head about this, Annie realized as they held her close. Sure, it may be a little unusual, but when had Troy and Abed ever been concerned with normalcy? 

  


**iii.**

“Everybody, close your books,” Jeff instructed during study group, “we’re taking a break and no one is allowed to get ahead.”

Annie huffed in annoyance, but complied with everyone else and immediately turned towards Troy and Abed, who had already started to chat amiably. 

“I can’t wait for date night tonight,” Troy was saying with a smile when he caught her eye. “Oh, Annie Banannie, you wanna come?” 

She made a sound between a scoff and a laugh- she really wanted to say yes, but she felt compelled to do the more socially acceptable thing and point out, “Troy, I’m not dating you guys.” 

“I know,” he said, “but we haven’t seen you a lot this week and we miss you. Plus you’d really like the movie we’re seeing.” 

Abed nodded eagerly, “Please come with us, we promise we won’t kiss a lot.” 

“No more than three times,” Troy said. 

“Five,” Abed corrected him. 

“Alright,” Annie replied with a nod, “but only three with tongue.” 

“Deal,” Abed declared, and extended to shake Annie’s hand. 

“You guys know this isn’t normal, right?” Jeff said, still typing on his phone, “it’s important to me that you know that.”

“We don’t care,” Troy replied with a shrug. 

“Let us hang out with our friend, Jeffrey,” Abed exclaimed. 

“Yeah, Jeffrey, let them hang out with their friend,” Annie repeated with a grin, and Jeff simply shrugged and rolled his eyes.

“Date night starts at seven,” Abed told her, wagging his finger at her, “you should wear that one dress I like.”

Annie nodded, immediately understanding the one he meant- they had been shopping together when she’d bought that dress, and she didn’t know whether that was why he liked it so much, but just the idea that it could be warmed her heart.

“You have such a weird little relationship,” Shirley muttered, eyes darting between the three of them. 

“We’re happy,” Abed replied with an easy shrug, “and we love Annie.” 

“Aww,” Annie said, pouting adorably, “I love you too!” 

Abed smiled at her in that sweet way reserved for only her and Troy, and Annie felt endlessly grateful for their weird little relationship. She had never been happier to be a third wheel. 

  


**iv.**

Annie woke up to a loud crash coming from the kitchen. She fluttered her eyes open and glanced at the clock on her nightstand- it was nine in the morning. She panicked for half a second, until she remembered it was Sunday and she was allowed to sleep in. 

Oh, right, the loud crash. She should probably go check what that was. She got up, put on her slippers, and sleepily walked to the kitchen. 

“Trobed?” she limply called. They had insisted she call them that, especially ever since they’d started dating, and she thought it was pretty adorable, so she happily went along with it. 

“Oh, no,” Troy said, popping out from behind the counter, “you weren’t supposed to wake up.”

“What are you guys doing?” she curiously asked, glancing at the disarray of dishes and bowls around the kitchen. 

“We’ll clean this up,” Abed said before she could get upset over the mess, “we were trying to make you breakfast-”

“-but neither one of us is great in the kitchen,” Troy sheepishly cut in. 

“Both great in bed, though,” Abed quipped with a grin, and they quickly did their handshake. 

“Gross,” Annie said, but her fond smile betrayed her, “but you guys are so sweet! I wish you hadn’t destroyed the kitchen, but I can’t really be mad at you right now.”

“We managed a couple waffles,” Abed said, showing her a plate with… okay-looking waffles. 

“Go back to bed for five minutes, so we can set it all up,” Troy requested with a pout. 

“Alright,” she replied softly, and then, in a slightly harsher tone, “don’t break anything else.” She turned around and left the kitchen while they repeatedly promised that they wouldn’t.

They called her five minutes later, and she walked out of her bedroom to find them standing in front of the dinner table, where a plate of waffles with an excessive amount of whipped cream, a warm mug of coffee, a glass of fresh orange juice, and even a small bundle of flowers were awaiting her.

“How did I get so lucky?” she asked, bringing a hand to her heart. 

“We’re the ones who got lucky,” Troy countered, “we love you, Annie Banannie.” 

Abed nodded with a smile. “We love you… cutie pie.” He paused, looking thoughtful. “I’ll think of a better one.” He pointed a finger at her. “Sugar...lips?” he tentatively mumbled. 

“Keep trying,” she replied with a laugh, and happily sat down to eat her waffles. They may have been a little too sweet, burnt on some parts and undercooked on others, but she was pretty certain they were the best waffles she had ever tasted. 

  


**v.**

Troy and Abed had been sneaking around for the last week or so, talking in hushed voices and stopping whenever Annie got close. She wasn’t sure what they were planning, and she wasn’t sure whether she should be nervous or excited.

They had made her breakfast again that morning, because it was her birthday- something she wasn’t particularly excited about. Her birthday was just another day of not hearing from her parents. Not very fun. 

She opened the door to their apartment, and everything else happened very quickly. 

The dark apartment lit up to reveal all of her friends standing there, amidst colorful birthday decorations and food she was sure must have been Shirley’s work, yelling “Happy birthday!” 

Troy and Abed were at the front, and they walked up to her to engulf her in a hug. 

“We know you don’t like your birthday,” Troy whispered in her ear, “but you deserve to have a nice one before you can really say that, y’know?” 

They pulled back, and they were looking at her with such love it made her eyes fill with tears. 

“You guys,” she said, doing her best impression of Troy, “I never cry, but-” she looked around at her smiling friends “-everyone’s here!” 

“Not Pierce,” Abed pointed out, “no homophobes allowed.” 

Troy nodded, “But Neil’s here, ‘cause Neil’s the best.” 

“Aww,” Neil said from behind them, as the Dean yelled, “And the Dean!” 

“Yeah, him too,” Troy muttered, then excitedly clapped his hands, “let’s get this party started!” 

“Neil and I planned a special birthday campaign for you,” Abed told Annie, taking one of her hands in his.

Annie smiled, drying her tears with her free hand, and hugged Troy and Abed again. 

“You’re the best family ever,” she whispered, “I love you so much.” 

“I love you too, Annie Banannie,” Troy mumbled. 

“I love you, princess,” Abed said. 

After a long deliberation, he had found the perfect pet name for her. He had said it was perfect because she looked like a beautiful Disney princess, plus it reminded him of their second paintball war, which he counted as an important step in their journey towards being a chosen family- Annie had to admit she’d teared up a bit when he’d told her.

Troy and Abed linked arms with her and they joined the rest of their friends, who were already enjoying the wide assortment of food Shirley had provided, and Annie thought that maybe birthdays weren’t always that bad- not when you have a family who loves you so well. 

  


**i**

Everything was ready. The table was set, complete with candles and flower arrangement, the buttered noodles were ready and keeping warm in the oven, the chocolate cake she had baked with Shirley’s help was on the kitchen counter, ready to be served, and she had even prepared two big glasses of special drink. Troy and Abed were bound to get home any second, and Annie was almost trembling with excitement. 

She heard the key turn in the lock and rushed to the door, greeting them with a smile and a _ta-dah!_

“What’s all this?” Abed asked, while Troy looked around the room in awe, “are you proposing to us?” 

“No,” Annie laughed, “this is just for you guys. I’m sleeping over at Neil’s and you guys are gonna have an awesome date.” 

“That’s so sweet!” Troy crooned, “but why?” 

“Because you guys deserve it,” she replied, “you’re always showing me what it means to be loved and to have a family, and I want to do the same for you.” She bit her lip, smiling a little nervously. “I just love you guys,” she mumbled. 

“We love _you_ , Annie,” Troy said, “you deserve all of the love we give you and more.”

“And you do the same for us,” Abed added, “you guys are my family.” 

“I love our weird little family,” Annie said, beaming. 

She grabbed her overnight bag and leaned over to give them both a kiss on the cheek. 

“Have fun on your date, Trobed,” she chirped. 

“Have fun on your sleepover,” Abed quipped back. 

“I always do,” she said with a smile, and gave one last look at her best friend- no, her brothers. Her family. 

“I love you,” she said one last time before heading out the door, leaving them to enjoy the date she’d prepared for them. 

She hoped they would see the meaning behind every little thing she had done, and know just what it meant. She hoped this, and everything else she did for the rest of her life, would show them just how grateful she was that they had shown her what it meant to be loved- truly loved, without exceptions or conditions. And not only that, they had taught _her_ to love as purely and unconditionally they did.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Spare comments and/or kudos, please?


End file.
